Greater Than 10-Year Results of Red-White Longitudinal Meniscal Repairs in Patients 20 Years of Age or Younger

Abstract

A chondroprotective joint effect was demonstrated in the healed menisci repairs, which warrants the procedure in select patients. The long-term evaluation of the anterior cruciate ligament-reconstructed knees with concurrent successful meniscal repairs demonstrated a low rate of radiographic arthritis.

Meniscal Repair Outcomes at Greater Than Five Years

“…Thirteen studies (reporting on fourteen patient cohorts) met the inclusion criteria and were the focus of the present study [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] . The studies were published between 1989 and 2011.…”

“…Eight studies 12,13,15,16,[18][19][20]22 included detailed information on the location (medial or lateral) of meniscal repairs as well as the location of failures. The pooled data included 190 repairs of the medial meniscus and 119 repairs of the lateral meniscus.…”

“…Among studies reporting failures, the failure rate of medial meniscal repair ranged from 17.4% to 36.7%, whereas the failure rate for lateral meniscal repair ranged from 6.7% to 42.9%. The rate of meniscal repair failure was higher in the medial meniscal repairs in four studies 16,[18][19][20] , whereas the opposite was true in three other studies 12,13,15 .…”

“…The failure rate of meniscal repair increases from early to long-term follow-up 10 . Numerous authors have reported failures at greater than two years postoperatively [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] , yet most published studies focus on short-term outcomes 9 . We performed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to better define the rate of clinical failure after meniscal repair at greater than five years postoperatively.…”

“…The repair technique was open in five cohorts [11][12][13]15,21 , inside-out in five 14,[18][19][20]22 , outside-in in one 16 , and all-inside (with use of meniscal arrows) in three 10,17,22 . The Appendix summarizes the patient populations and follow-up durations of the included studies.…”